Guidelines

AORN Issues Implementation Guide for Prevention of Retained Surgical Items

The Association of periOperative Registered Nurses (AORN) has published an Implementation Guide for the "Recommended practices for prevention of retained surgical items (RSIs)." The guide, in the February 2012 issue of AORN Journal, is the third in a series of Journal ...More
February 8, 2012
Posted in News, Policies and Practice
Healthcare Infection Society Issues New Guidelines to Prevent Infection in Minor Surgery

New guidelines from the Healthcare Infection Society (HIS) aimed at minimizing surgical infection in day centers (outpatient facilities) and primary care are now published in the Journal of Hospital Infection. "These guidelines are the first ever published guidance in the ...More
January 30, 2012
Posted in News, Policies and Practice
AACN Updates Clinical Guidelines to Prevent CAUTIs

Urinary tract infections account for nearly 40 percent of hospital-acquired infections in acute care hospitals, triggering increased hospital costs and higher patient morbidity and mortality rates. Compounding the toll of these infections, Medicaid, Medicare and many other ...More
January 18, 2012
Posted in News, Policies and Practice
'Systems Ambiguity' Explains Healthcare Workers' Non-Compliance with Guidelines

Healthcare-associated infections (HAI) in intensive care units (ICU) can be significantly reduced or eliminated by increasing care providers’ compliance with evidence-based guidelines. Using a human factors and systems engineering approach, researchers from Johns Hopkins ...More
September 6, 2011
Posted in News, Policies and Practice
Slide Show: Healthcare Worker Flu Vaccination

The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) and the Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee (HICPAC) of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend that all U.S. healthcare personnel be vaccinated annually against influenza. The ...More
August 19, 2011
Posted in Galleries, Policies and Practice
Infection Prevention for Outpatient Care

Infection Control Today magazine and SurgiStrategies magazine present a primer on infection prevention in outpatient care, based on the CDC's new guidance for ambulatory surgery centers. ...More
July 28, 2011
Posted in Galleries, Policies and Practice
Simple Guidelines Decreased Unnecessary Antibiotic Use

Antibiotic overuse and resistance have emerged as major threats during the past two decades. Following an outbreak of Clostridium difficile infections, which often result from antibiotic use, healthcare professionals in Quebec, Canada targeted physicians and pharmacists ...More
July 26, 2011
Posted in News, Infections & Pathogens
Updated CDC Guidelines Target Infections in Patients With Intravenous Catheters

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and its Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee (HICPAC) have updated a guideline, "Guidelines for the Prevention of Intravascular Catheter-Related Infections," designed to help practitioners eliminate ...More
July 18, 2011
Posted in Content Library
CDC Releases Infection Prevention Guide to Promote Safe Outpatient Care

Medical care in outpatient settings has surged in recent years, yet in many cases, adherence to standard infection prevention practices in outpatient settings is lacking. To protect patients and help educate clinicians about minimum expectations of safe care, the Centers ...More
July 13, 2011
Posted in News, Infections & Pathogens, Policies and Practice
Researchers Detect Outdated Infection Prevention Guidelines

Several World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines related to infection prevention and control (IPC) of infections associated with healthcare have been issued over the past decades. In a presentation at the International Conference on Prevention & Infection Control ...More
July 5, 2011
Posted in News, Policies and Practice, PPE & Standard Precautions